


Lost in the Swing of Things

by TheNumberOnePun



Category: Grand Theft Auto V, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Abuse, Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gay, I'm Sorry, Italian Mafia, Like, Love, M/M, Marriage, Molestation, Multi, Sadness, Weed Smoking, all of these places and stores, and roads and shit, are reall places and roads, banana peel slip, but that's why it's explicit, but those will be actual places in the games, except for the los santos and san an places, faster than you can drop you panties, fuckin kms, i know how you feel, i spent hours researching, i will warn beforehand, i'm learning, illegal stuff, it wil go from completely serious, it's gonna be fuckin amazing, italian words - i will translate best i can, joints, just - trigger warning i guess, major killing other people, prison flashbacks, so much gay, there are some panic attacks, there will be sexies, there's a lot of shit, to full on gay, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-26
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-06 07:50:33
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4213839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNumberOnePun/pseuds/TheNumberOnePun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Okay so - I decided to start over. So anyone that has read this before, I would advise you to re-read from the beginning. I added a shit ton of stuff. I changed the main character and added two others. I changed where the main character is from and made it in the real world, instead of Achievement city, however, they will travel to Los Santos and San Andreas, so. A lot of stuff is different, but the main plot line will be the same. Also the Fake AH Crew will come in way later, but be patient with me.)</p><p>Excerpt: </p><p>When she was young and dumb, a life of crime is exactly what she wanted - and all the shit she had to go through to get to where she was now? Worth it. However, way back, when she decided befriending the infamous Fake AH Crew was a good idea, she got WAY more than she asked for.<br/>Guin smiled into the warm cup of hot cocoa she held while she stood on her porch, overlooking all of her friends as they competed against each other in a wild snowball fight.<br/>'Yeah.' she thought, 'SO worth it."<br/>Besides, when she looked back on all of the hard shit she went through, having her life torn apart and put back together over and over was all in a days work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Introduction

                It was Guin’s eighteenth birthday, and the official marking of the end of the friends’ senior year, Guin and Dusty about to go off to college together, sadly leaving Vince behind.

Vince and Dusty had taken her to breakfast and then gone back to her house to pack bags and food for a day of swimming and playing at Conines pond right next to Guin’s small house on Waldron Dr. After their skin was shriveled and the three were exhausted from the rough water wrestling they got out of the pond, their skin feeling lightly clammy as they wrapped themselves in towels. They took a short walk around the playground nearby and the trio swung on the swings, wet hair clinging to their necks and eyes sparking as they ate the sandwiches they had packed. With the surprisingly warm for New Jersey air blowing through their hair and the speckles of July sun shimmering on their skin through the trees it seemed as if nothing could go wrong. The tall trees swayed above Guin and her two friend’s, the day had been so peaceful, and suddenly it was as if the entire world stopped in front of her as Vince opened his mouth to say something he’d been holding back for a while.

“Guys, I’m goin’ into the Marine’s. I’ll be shippin’ out in August.” Vince’s voice was quiet next to the sound of the wind.

Guin looked over at Vince, her best friend of sixteen years and boyfriend of five - the wind blew the hair away from his face. He was a piece of art to her, something so strange, and understood by no one, but a treasure nonetheless. As his emerald green eyes found her chocolate brown ones, she saw every good memory the two of them had together since they were kids get snuffed out by a single bullet from an enemy gun. Out of habit, the only reasonable thing she thought she could do was laugh. So she did, and the laughing slowly turned into a confused and flustered hitch in her throat.

“You’re jokin’. Right? He’s jokin’.” She looked over him to Dusty, whose embarrassed expression practically screamed, _‘I was gonna’ tell you, but..’_ The silence that followed made her shoulders feel indefinitely heavy, so much so that her eyesight began to blur. For a short while she was caught in her own mind, the worst scenarios toying with her thoughts. Once her mind had reached its breaking point, all thoughts shut down, and her emotions buried themselves beneath chilled anger.

“Fine, Vincent Grand.” She didn’t, and more importantly couldn’t, say anything else about it. It was too much for her, that twelve word sentence made her body icy cold. “I’m going to head home, I’ll see you two tomorrow.” As she gathered her things and began walking toward home, Dusty shot up and spoke a hasty goodbye to Vince as he followed alongside her. The once warm, relaxing breeze was now cold enough to make her wrap herself in her arms. She didn’t know what she was going to do, she understood they’d break apart eventually. She wanted to go to college in Pennsylvania, and now, apparently, Vince wanted to go into the army. They were going to be worlds apart. “I can’t be with ‘im if he’s going into the army.” With her eyes fixed on the ground she said what they were both thinking.

“What if he doesn’t come back?”


	2. Chapter 2

It had been exactly one year and two months since Guin and Vince ‘broke up’, if you could call it that. All that went down was Guin never talked to Vince again after that day, and even though Dusty’s coaxing to go and see him off was tempting, Guin refused and buried herself deeper into her own self.

Guin had been very quiet and reserved ever since she broke up with Vince a year ago. Shortly after the couple’s parting she began to smoke Marijuana for relief from her stress. Dusty was glad she was able to relax once and a while, but she’d been using most of her money to buy pot instead of food, causing her to go from a plump two hundred pounds to a thin one hundred and thirty pounds. Guin’s love for pot is what brought them here to Boalsburg Pennsylvania, Guin’s drug dealer had called her and asked to meet at his house on Woodmont St. because she hadn’t paid for the past four, ounces he gave her, each ounce worth three hundred dollars. Dusty could tell today wasn’t going to go well as soon as they pulled into the gravel driveway with a small white house at the end, the September air warm.

“Guin, be ready for anything once we’re in there, okay?” Dusty sounded protective, which he was, but he was shaking like a leaf.

“Dustin-Ray, I’m a pothead, not a baby. You don’ have to protect me.” Dusty rolled his eyes as Guin got out of the car with a sigh. Once on the front porch everything went to hell. The front door swung open and a large burly man grabbed them both by the collar and shoved them both inside, a gun pointed at their heads.

“Walk!” His voice was deep, and made the pair jump, Dusty wanted to cry. They were led up steep steps to a green walled room, the only light source the open window on the far side of the room. A dark headed man sat at the center with a large white desk in front of him, his dirty shoes crossed and slung on top of the elegant piece of furniture. The man’s voice rang in false excitement, untangling his feet and stepping around the desk, brushing off the dirt his shoes left. Opening his arms wide he walked close to Guin, almost as if he expected her to embrace him. “Guin! _So_ nice to see you again.”

“Ah, Antonio. How are yah?” Guin’s voice and body language was unwavering – flat and unemotional – but Dusty could tell by how stiff she was, compared to her normal fluidity, she was nervous.

“I’m good Guin. But,” Antonio walked even closer, placing his palm against Guin’s cheek, his proximity suffocating. “I’d be better if I had my money. You promised me, Guin, that I’d get my money, and I haven’t even see a penny. Where is it, Guin? I don’t like it when people break their promises.” Antonio wore a faux disappointed expression, then slowly slipping into a devilish grin, moving his hand to tightly grip at Guin’s jaw. Antonio was too close – so close that they could smell the lingering of beer on his breath.

“I never made a promise. I told you I’d get yah’ the money when I got it to yah’.” Guin was stronger than Dusty had thought, she didn’t even flinch when Antonio griped Guin’s jaw hard probably leaving bruises, and the burly man from earlier stepped closer and pointed a gun, with what looked like a silencer attached, at the back of her head.

“I am not afraid to kill you, Guin. Mind you I am _very_ good at hiding bodies. I will give you once last chance to get me the money you owe me.” Antonio released Guin’s jaw to caress Guin’s face, making her jerk away from him. “However, it wouldn’t hurt you to beg. You’re the weakest person I think I’ve ever come across, so I’m sure you can manage.”

The laugh that erupted from Guin’s mouth made Dusty cringe. “Do I look like someone who begs?” Guin smiled evilly before Dusty saw everything before him get pushed into high speed. Guin spun around, knocking the gun from the large man’s hands, catching in in her own, and quickly placing a bullet in his skull. She then whipped forward again and struck Antonio across the face with the butt of the gun, knocking him down with a thud. As she pointed the gun at Antonio’s face, she motioned Dusty to stay where he was.

“Antonio, I want you to look _very_ closely at my face. I want you to look right into my eyes. You will know who killed you, and that ‘the weakest person you’ve come across’ was the one to put a bullet between yah’ eyes.” Guin took a long breath, hardening her expression as she effortlessly pulled the trigger. Dusty saw Guin’s fluid movement’s return to her as Antonio’s body fell limp against the ground. She bent down and took the gun from Antonio’s holster, then pushing it into Dusty’s hands. “There were about five guys down stairs, and two in the hallway, probably more around here somewhere so we’ll need to fight our way out. If only I could get my hands onto a knife.”

Dusty watched as Guin paced the floor, presumably planning on how to get out. Watching her take long steps around the room he spoke up in a hushed but angered tone. “Guin, you just killed those two guys!” Guin was dumbfounded at his words.

“Are you kidding me?” Her face was deadpanned, but Dusty could tell she was laughing at him on the inside. “Dusty,” She crossed the room in three strides, her hands now placed on his shoulders. “It was us,” she nodded her head at the dead bodies, “or them, and I was not – am not – ready to die today.” Guin stepped away and made large movements with her arms, her eyes glazed over in wonder. “When I die, I want to die in a wild blaze of glory ‘n fire!” She stepped back towards Dusty, her face going void again, “Not in a drug dealer’s house in the small town o’ Boalsburg.”

Dusty didn’t look convinced, but went along with it anyway because Guin was his friend, and she’d never done any harm to him yet. That, and he didn’t want to die in such a boring place either.

“Now,” Guin motioned Dusty to follow her to the door of the room, the pair hunched over as to be less noticeable. “In order to get out’a here without anyone tailin’ us or knowin’ we did this, is to kill everyone.”

Dusty sighed, “I can’t believe we’ve begun a life of sin.” Guin laughed.

“You’ll follow me, and only kill when I say. This has to be strategically planned, I don’t want a shit storm on my hands, okay? We don’t want them to know what hit ‘em.” After Dusty nodded, agreeing with her plan, Guin slowly opened the door and peeked her head out, spotting one guy a little ways down the hallway. Guin whispered to Dusty, “Stay here.” Guin creeped out of the room, popping into the room a few feet away. Dusty could hear three quick thuds, presumably three unknowing burly men hitting the floor. Guin reappeared at the doorway, a blade the size of her forearm with a smooth leather hilt attached placed in her fingers. “This’ll come in handy.” She motioned him to follow, and room by room they went, killing whomever was inside. Well, it was more Guin killing and Dusty standing there astonished.

As they reached the last room, the basement, Guin turned and smiled at Dusty. “This must be where they keep their stash.” As they entered, Dusty realized that Guin was right, there were rows upon rows of weed planted in pots that sat on the floor, each about six foot tall. Dusty could tell this made Guin giddy, but she was also more cautious than she had been because the height of the plant hid whomever might be in the room.  “Shoot to kill.” With that Guin made off into the room, leaving Dusty behind. He wanted to call out for Guin not to leave him, but he didn’t want to be seen, so he began to make his way around the room. Luckily he didn’t run into anyone, however, Dusty turned into one row and saw Guin standing over another dead body, a large man standing behind her, gun pointed at her head. Before he knew it the man had crumpled and Dusty was fretting over Guin, asking if she was okay.

“I’m fine.” She stood and examined the other dead body, taking his money and valuables as she did with the others. “Huh. Nice shot, dude.” She turned and the corner of her mouth lifted.

Dusty was confused. “What do you mean?”

“Do you not remember? I was gettin’ the money off of that dude, when I heard a bang and there you were, gun in hand. You killed this guy.” Guin patted Dusty on the shoulder.

“Oh my God. I can’t believe this.” Dusty took a few shaky breaths, then laughing at Guin’s next sentence.

“We’re quite the team. Maybe we should just quit school and go into a life of thievery and murder. We’re pretty good at it.”

“Yeah, okay. Like that’ll ever happen.”

Guin’s laugh was golden, “Alright Mr. Perfect Saint, let’s pack up as much weed as we can get, hit their safe, and get the fuck outta’ here.”

The pair will always remember that day as the day everything began – Their first killing.


	3. Chapter 3

So far Vince hated being in the Marine’s. It’d been a year since he joined. The food was shit, no one wanted to talk to him, which resulted in him getting ‘ruffed up’ almost every day, and even worse, he couldn’t seem to kill. They had gone out a few days before, and they drove until they reached a small village. They thought it was a harmless town until one of the building was blown to bits, one of the newbie soldiers gone with it. Whenever Vince tried to kill someone he couldn’t, he’d always miss on purpose for some reason. He felt stupid being there when he couldn’t even help his country. Vince had been stewing over this ever since, now shoveling oatmeal into his mouth, the breakfast starting his day off on an awful note.

“Now if you keep stuffin’ your face with food like that, it’s no wonder you look constipated. This food it shit, I can’t believe you’re eating it.” A large, black man had sat beside Vince, smiling away as if they weren’t in a foreign country with their life constantly on the line.

“They’ve got nothin’ else to eat, and I don’t want to pass out. Or starve. I’m Vincent Grand, by the way.” Vince attempted at a smile, but it came off as more of a grimace.

“Nice to meet you Grand, I’m Leo Travis. That’s a strong accent you got there, where you from?”

Vince pushed another spoon full of goop into his mouth, lightly cringing at the taste. “Jersey, a boring town called Allentown.” Vince hadn’t thought about home in months, and he honestly wasn’t happy that he had to remember it now of all times.

Travis clapped a hand on Vince’s back, almost making him empty his stomach on the gritty table. “Grand, throw that garbage out, I’ll show you how to get the good stuff.” Travis stood and waited for Vince to follow, then walking out side and around the dining tent, coming up behind a pretty red headed lady, whom was sitting on a barrel reading a book. “ _Hel-_ lo, Emily.”

The woman, Emily, turned and rolled her eyes. “Good God, Travis, what do you want this time?”

“Do you think you could hook me and my friend,” Travis pulled Vince closer by the shoulders and shook him a bit, “Grand here some _actual_ food? Please?”

Emily sighed but agreed nonetheless, leaving for a while and returning with two medium sized Styrofoam boxes, and cold water bottles for the hot September heat. Travis’ smile only got bigger at the sight of them, replying in a sing-song voice, “ _Thank you_!” As the two began to walk off Vince opened his box and his mouth watered at what was inside.

“Two eggs, bacon, _an’_ sausage gravy!? Yo, how did she do this? And more importantly, how did _you_ convince _her_ to do this?” Vince immediately began to eat the bacon, moaning at the taste. Travis chuckled at Vince’s reaction, smiling.

“Grand, Emily is my wife, and her brother is the head cook.” Travis laughed as Vince began to choke on the bacon. Travis’ laugh alone, hearty and deep – much like one you’d expect from Santa Clause – lifted Vince’s spirt.

“Nice catch, Travis!” Vince took another bight of his food, shaking his head lightly.

“You’re tellin’ me!”

Vince couldn’t help but let a wide smile crack on to his face, his first one since he’d arrived in this awful waste land. He’d made his first friend, who seemed to make the whole situation a little bit better, and he was not going to give him up easily.

 

\--------------------------------------                                                         

 

“ _Fuck it, Grand! Get down!_ ” Vince still wasn’t used to being called by his last name, but hit the ground nonetheless, some of the blood stained dirt getting into his mouth, almost making him empty the contents of his stomach, what little there was. Boots clomped their way over to his hiding spot. “Don’t be so fuckin’ useless, Grand.” It was Travis again, the one whom had just saved his hide and had done it lots in the past month they’ve been friends. “You almost got yourself killed just know. Again. What’re yah’ gonna’ do if I ever leave, Grand?”

Vince rolled his eyes, but he knew Travis could see how thankful he was. “I suppose get myself killed, just to spite you.” The pair shared a laugh amongst the gunfire close by.

“I know you haven’t killed anyone yet, and I’m keepin’ that a secret for ‘yah, but sooner or later you’re gonna have to put a bullet in someone.” Travis placed a hand on Vince’s shoulder.

“I know, Travis, I know. It’s been a year and some – you’d think I’d be able to kill by now – but every time I raise my gun to shoot someone, I can’t do it – And I almost get myself killed every time.” Vince hung his head in shame, ‘ _What soldier couldn’t even shoot someone?_ ’

“Alright Mr. Mopey,” Travis stood, helping Vince to his feet, “Let’s get goin’ it doesn’t sound too good out there an’ I bet our friends need our help.” Once out from behind their hiding hole and back into the blistering October sun they were met with enemy fire. The two split and dove for two separate shelters to shoot from behind. Vince tried so hard to shoot at the enemies, but missed every time, he couldn’t help but see them as people with lives and a family not too far away from where they were brawling.

Everything seemed to crumble when Vince heard a blood curdling scream rip through the air, and it sounded a lot like Travis. Vince looked over to where his friend used to be hunched over, gun at the ready, but was now laying on the ground, hand over his chest. “Travis!” Vince ran to him, just barely missing the bullets still being fired at him. Travis’ eyes were wide when Vince kneeled near him. “Travis, are you okay?” There were three bullet holes in his chest, blood slowly oozing out.

Taking a large, painful breath Travis cracked a smile and made a sarcastic retort. “I’ve got three bullet holes in my chest, does it _look_ like I’m fuckin’ okay?” Travis tried to laugh, but stopped when he realized it wasn’t a good idea.

“Travis, stop joking.” Vince held him close, his eyes tearing up. They both knew he wasn’t getting out of there alive.

“I’d like my last few moments to be happy, and funny. Please stop crying.” Travis raised a hand and wiped Vince’s tears.

“What am I going to do without you? Oh God, how will I tell Emily? Travis please don’t leave, you’ve been my only friend through all of this.” Vince couldn’t help it. He had grown so attached to Travis in the month that he’d known him, so he’d obviously cry when his only friend in this Godforsaken land left him.

“Tell me about your home, please. You told me once before that when we got back you’d take me to see your old town.” Travis’ words started to become mumbled and slurred, his eyelids drooping.

Rocking Travis lightly, Vince began from the beginning. “I lived in the small town of Allentown New Jersey, a town where just about everybody knows everybody. I went to AT High and had two best friends for the most part, we were always together, and I even dated one of them. She was a real nice girl, but my decision to join the army made her pull away.”

‘ _God’_ Vince thought, ‘ _this is_ so _not the time to be reminiscing._ ’

“The three of us always went to this small restaurant about seven minutes from the school – Woody’s Towne Café – and did our homework.” Vince looked up and saw two soldiers from his team where he’d been crouched before, both switching between shooting and looking at the two of them every once and a while. Vince looked toward the sky as he spoke. “We were allowed to sit for hours since we knew the owner, but we had to ‘Order somethin’ or get out’ so each of us always got breakfast because they served it all day – man I can taste it now. After we finished our work we’d always take the small drive over to the elementary school and swing on the swing set for hours. It was always the best to swing durin’ the fall, the leaves were the prettiest of colors, and don’t even get me _started_ on-” Vince finally looked down again when he heard Travis heave a breath of air. Vince began to tear up again when he saw that Travis’ eyes were closed, his lips holding the faintest smile. “Travis?” Vince began to shake his friend. “No, no, no, no, no.” Vince shook harder, “Travis, no!” Vince took a moment to heavily weep, mumbling, “I didn’t even get to say goodbye..”

Vince composed himself after a moment, then laying Travis down and picking up his discarded gun. “Alright, you mother _fuckers_. You just fucked with wrong soldier!” Vince stood and shot with surprising accuracy at the enemies. All his fellow soldiers could do was watch, as he ferociously placed bullets into the enemies. For his first time killing, he wasn’t so bad at it. Vince shot at multiple waves of enemies for about an hour, his friends joining after they got over the initial shock.

 

After all of the shooting from the other side had stopped, they took Travis’ body and loaded into the back of the jeep, all of them getting in and driving back to base.

 

Vince was nervous as soon as he stepped foot into the camp. He had to tell Emily what had happened, and he knew she was not going to like it. When he reached the back of the dining tent she was sitting there, just as she was the day he met her, book in hand. She turned when she heard footsteps. “Grand! Wow, you look tired.” She began to walk away. “Let me grab you some food-”

Vince cut her off, “No!.. No, please. That’s not necessary, please.”

“Are you alright, Grand? You look really pale, are you sick?” Emily brought her hand to his forehead, but he jerked away.

“I’m fine! I promise.” He weakly smiled.

“Oh alright, if you say so. Speaking of promises, where’s my lazy husband, eh? I promised him mashed potatoes, green beans, and ham for dinner. It’s strange to see you two separate, you two’ve been joined at the hip since the day you met, haha. I was beginning to think he was going to leave me for you, hah. So, where is he?” She moved her head around, looking behind Vince to see if he was near.

“Actually,” Vince wrung his hands in front of him, afraid of bursting into tears again. “Travis is why I’m here.”

Emily frowned, “What did he say this time, huh? You know, he never could keep his mouth shut. I told him it’ be the death of ‘im one day. I swear, if he said anything to offend you I’ll-”

“Emily!” Vince didn’t mean to shout at her, but she couldn’t take her own advice and _shut the hell up._ “Please, stop talkin’.” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “Emily, I-” Vince took a breath, he had to be strong for her. “Emily, Travis is-”

“He’s dead isn’t he?” Emily’s smile faded slightly, but her eyes revealed how sad she had become.

“I- I’m sorry.” If Vincent had said anymore, he’d have burst into tears again. Emily pulled him into a tight hug, the only thing that kept him from falling on his knees.

Vince will always remember that day as the day everything began – His first killing.


	4. Chapter 4

Guin had never felt like this. Her heart was beating so fast and her body was tingling. This behavior had been going on for about an hour, pacing back and forth in her and Dusty’s shared apartment, so she finally decided to pull on some sweatpants and go jogging. She knew nothing else was going to stop the jitters. Once she was outside, the wind lightly ruffling her hair and the cold end of November wind nipping at her cheeks (She couldn’t believe in less than twenty four hours it’d be time for Christmas), she immediately took off at a sprint.  

Every morning, three hours before her first class, she would run around the campus, which usually took about an hour and a half, then stopping and picking up breakfast for herself and her oldest friend, calmly walking back to their current home. Once there she woke Dusty up just enough to get his breakfast in mouth and have a nice conversation, which consisted of mostly grunts on his part. Even if Guin knew Dusty wasn’t a morning person, and could often be hostile, she still brought him breakfast every morning. 

She’d been a track and marching band student in high school, so her stamina never ran out, and with the jitters she’d been having she was able to beat her time in how fast she could run around the campus and to the diner that was two blocks from her apartment. Right around the time the diner came into view, her phone buzzed in her zipped up jacket pocket. 

“Guin!” It was Dusty. Guin slowed down so she could hear Dusty clearly through the phone. Before she could get a word out Dusty was speaking again. “Guin, you said yah’ needed to meet me right away. I practically lost a lung tryin’ ta get ‘ere!” 

Guin laughed at Dusty’s wheezing through the phone. “I’m sorry, I got too hyper so I went for a run. Wanna’ meet up? I’m at that diner just down the road.” Guin didn’t even have to wait for an answer, Dusty loved the diner with its old jukebox, bright retro colors, tall glasses of milkshakes, and _especially_ their home made cherry pie. Dusty couldn’t refuse the pie. 

“Be there in two.” 

When the call was finished Guin stepped inside the warm diner, rubbing her hands together from the cold.  

“Ah, Guin! How are you? And where’s that young Dusty? You two are usually joined at the hip.” Her favorite little old waitress Janet smiled as Guin came closer, wrangling her into a hug. Guin loved her smile. She loved the wrinkles around her eyes and mouth which showed she never met a day where she didn’t smile. Guin wished she could be like that.  

“I’m great, how’re you? Dusty’s on his way, he just got back home from his World Religion class which is all the way across campus. He should be ‘ere soon, we live right down the road and he’s walkin’ so it won’t take long.” Guin sat down at their regular booth. As she look out the window the sky outside was cloudy, a dark contrast against the bright colors of the leaves on the trees. 

“Well that’s good, it’s weird seeing you two apart. As for little old me, I’m good. My sixty-fourth birthday is coming up next week, so I expect you two to come and visit, I’ll be working.” Janet laughed, it sounded like sugar, spice, and everything nice. “So, back to the present. What’ll you have today?” 

“Just the usual – Water for me, coffee for him, and two ample pieces o’ pie.” Guin picked at her nail polish. It was a bad habit that she’s never been able to quit. 

“Cherry or apple?” Janet was already fixing their drinks, a swing in her step and a hum in her voice. 

“You have apple?” Guin was shocked, they’d never had apple before, and a change so simple seemed so huge right in that moment. 

“It’s seasonal, only during November do we have apple pie. So, which one will it be?” Janet sat the drinks down in front of her just as Dusty walked in, shrugging off a large fuzzy coat.  

Dusty ‘brrr’ed to himself as he walked over, “It’s colder here than it is in New Jersey, but at least there isn't a sea breeze.” His cheeks were red from the chilly air, his hair blown in every which way. 

“Hey, Dusty, d’you know that during November they make apple pie too?” Guin laughed as Dusty stopped in his tracks, looking so befuddled. 

“For real?” Dusty continued walking and plopped down across from Guin, the cold from outside sticking to his skin and wafting over to her, making her shiver. “If that’s the case bring us one piece of apple and one piece of cherry, please.” Dusty smiled widely. 

“How about toppings, my darlings? Whipped cream okay?” As Janet walked back to the counter she began singing an old blues song, her voice as soothing as a warm glass of whiskey. 

Dusty loved to flirt with the old gal’ ever since she stared calling him honey during their second visit, she said the flirting made her feel younger. “You know it, light o’ my eyes, and a big dollop for the both of us.” Dusty laughed. 

Janet swooned as she walked back to the kitchen. “Oh, Dusty I’ve only got eyes for you!” 

As Dusty’s blue eyes turned back to Guin he smiled even brighter. “So, what was so important that I had to leave my World Reg. class as soon as it was over?” He took a sip of his coffee, his swept back hair moving to cover his eyes for the moment.  

“Well,” Guin fiddled with the table cloth, and dropped her voice to whisper, but other than that they looked like a couple of normal friends getting pie. “You know what we should do?” Dusty shrugged cautiously. “I want to do somethin’ destructive.” Guin quieted as Janet came back and placed the two slices of pie on front of them. 

“I am so confused.” Dusty shoveled a piece of apple in his mouth. 

“Whether you realized it or not, we were a great team. Now, we both want and need money to pay our bills for our school, and such.” Dusty nods at her words. “However, I like adrenaline. _So_ ,” Guin took a bite of the cherry pie, smiling lightly around the fork in her mouth, then leaning in even closer, “Let’s rob a place, Dusty. You know? Like those movies where they plan a – what is it called? Oh! A heist. Let’s do a heist. It doesn’t have to be anything too..” Guin made an extravagant hand motion, “Grandiose, we’ll start off small, but I’d really like to do this. I know it’s a life of crime, but if we keep our identities a secret, we can still have normal lives! Wouldn’t yah’ like that?”  

Dusty stayed quiet for a while, calmly eating pie, however, he broke the silence shortly after. “You sound crazy, you know that right? You sound deranged.” Guin nodded, “The only people who think of this stuff, and think they can get away with it are crazy people.” At his words Guin’s bright mood faltered. “But,” Dusty pointed his empty fork at her, “you’re not wrong. Ever since I shot that guy, it’s like I’ve been wanting _more.”_  

“It’s like the best high to be on. I mean- I wouldn’t kill an innocent, but-“ 

Dusty nodded, finishing her sentence for her, “But those people were our enemies, they were goin’ ta kill us. It was _us,_ or _them_ , and that’s the fun part. I’ll do it, I still don’t think it’s a good idea, and I _definitely_ don’t think it’s going to work out the way we want it to, but I’m willing to try. For my best friend.” Dusty reached his hand across the table and bumped his fist against Guin’s.   

Guin made a giddy noise at the back of her throat, shaking in her seat. “I haven’t been this pumped since that one Halloween when you, me, and Vince snuck out to go to Ryan Abe’s non-supervised party.” 

 Dusty laughed at the memory, his eyes shutting momentarily, “I got _so_ smashed that night. I haven’t had a drink since, but my liver will never recover.” Dusty giggled until he started coughing. 

“Do you remember when we broke my mom’s favorite tea pot while tryin’ ta sneak back into my house? The pot that had a Van Gogh paintin’ on it?” Guin began laughing again, soon clutching at her sides. 

“Oh my God, yes! You were grounded for a month, and your mom wouldn’t let yah hang out after school. When was that, like, freshman year, right?” Dusty rested his head on a fist, still faintly chuckling.  Guin eyes glazed over coldly for a moment, as if she’d forgotten something _very_ important and it upset her deeply, but as soon as Dusty was about to ask if she was alright the moment was over and Guin was nodding, a quite smile held behind her hand.  

“Okay, okay. Enough of reminiscing, we need to get home and plan.” Guin laughed as Dusty shoved the last remnants of the pies into his mouth and gulped down the rest of his coffee, successfully burning his tongue. 

 

The walk to their apartment was short but chilly, the two clung to each other as the wind whipped against them. Once they were inside they both collapsed on the couch. “So,” Guin opened the conversation, “Let me go get my laptop and a notebook. This has to be perfect.” When she returned Dusty had a fresh cup of coffee in his hands. “Okay, if you keep drinkin’ so much coffee yah’ going to have a heart attack and I’ll have to find someone else to heist with, _and_ someone else to annoy the ever loving shit outta’.” 

Dusty set his mug on the coffee table, very seriously looking at Guin. “If I don’t get enough coffee, then I _will_ die. And I’ll come back, because it’ll be all your fault, and annoy the ever loving shit outta’ _you.”_  

Guin nodded apathetically, “Your ghost will be too preoccupied by trying to find a nice cup of haunted Joe.” 

Dusty chuckled, “You right, you right. Now, let’s do this thing.” 

“Okay,” Guin put pen onto paper, “First we need to figure out when we want to do it? I have work on Tuesday and Friday next week and I obviously have classes every day. However, I only have two classes on Thursday, one at eight am, and one at eight pm.” 

Dusty pulled out his phone, checking his calendar, “Yeah, my schedule is open that day. I’ll ask off for work, but I’ve got my Statistics class at seven pm, so we’ve got to be back by six so I can get a shower before I go. I don’t think my teacher would appreciate it if I smelt like money a metal.” Guin laughed at that. 

“Alright so we’ll leave around ten thirty am, that gives us eight hours to get this job done, and most of that will be prep work.” Guin sighed heavily, “Now that we’ve got that settled, we need to lay down some rules.” 

Dusty groaned, he wanted to get to the thick planning of the heist already, he could be very impatient. “Like?” 

“Like,” Guin put the butt of the pen between her teeth, chewing lightly, “Like, no killing innocents. Only enemies. And douche bags. Oh! And no children.”  

Dusty nodded, more understanding, then offering, “What about,” Dusty leaned closer, resting his head on her shoulder so he could see what she was writing. “What about no man left behind? We will always go back for the other.”  

Guin nodded, “Agreed.” 

After an hour they had come up with many important rules: 

Rules for Heisting (Not in Order of Importance): 

  * No killing children, ~~(Douchebags are free range)~~  
  * No man left behind 
  * Always have a weapon in hand 
  * Profits are split evenly, no negotiating 
  * Masks are a **must** to keep identity hidden 
  * Don’t tell anyone about anything ~~(NOT EVEN YOUR PILLOW)~~  


  * Always have an alibi 
  * Victory meal afterwards 
  * Pre- heist meal 
  * If being interrogated, don’t give any information away. None. Die before you give info away 
  * Always have a getaway plan 



 

 

 

“Now what?” Dusty had moved to laying down on the couch, his head on the arm rest, and feet in Guin’s lap. 

Guin began to chew on the pen again. “Now, we pick a place? Let’s do somethin’ small first, like a gas station, small bank, or a liquor store.” 

Dusty piped up, “It can’t be near here, and it has to be at least two towns over. We don’t want suspicions anywhere near us. How about Karthaus? That place has a bank right? Remember? We passed through there to get to the Allegheny forest when we went camping last month.”  

Guin nodded, “Yeah, yeah. There’s a CNB on Main St. or something. It’s about fifty minutes from here, right? And we can take a different route to come back to here, go on the back roads.” Guin reached for her laptop and pulled up Google Maps. “Let’s take the short way there.. So, route 99 east, then on to route 80 west.” She pointed at the screen, her finger following along the highlighted roads. “We can stop at Snow Shoe, it’s a pretty nice town.  Looks like there’s a pizza place there, and we can eat.” Dusty cheered at the mention of Pre-Heist food. “Then we’ll get back on the road, rob the place and we’ll take the long way back. Which is,” Guin squinted at the screen. “West down Rollin’ Stone road, and then we’ll stop for a victory meal in Kylertown at a Roadhouse Restaurant. Oh my God steak.” Dusty laughed lightly, Guin smiling the slightest bit. “Then we’ll get back on 80 going east, then hop back to 99 and come home.” 

 Dusty sat up, “What’re we going to do with the money? Keep it here?”  

Guin nodded, “That seems like the best option. We could buy a safe, put it in a wall, and put a picture over it? I know we said we’ll split the profits, but we’re not in separate households, _and_ it’s gonna’ be a lot of money so I don’t see the point in literally splitting it right now. We will if one of us moves out though.” 

Dusty made a sound of agreement. “Now that we’ve got the place, the route, and the getaway, we just need to plan how to get in and do it.” His eyebrows scrunched together dramatically and his lips tugged down, a facial expression Guin always cherished.  

“We’ll need to do some research first. We’ll need to know the schedules of the workers, and the kind of surveillance they have.” Guin began to write down a to-do list, her scribbles the only noise in the room. 

Dusty turned to her friend as he spoke, “We’ll also need to go in beforehand and disable the silent alarms. You’re a really smart wire person, right?” Dusty reveled in remembering Guin's first job was fixing computers at Best Buy. He lightly fist bumped the air, not realizing Guin saw every movement.  

“Yep. I’ll drive there tomorrow and look at what kind of security system they have, and I’ll check out the schedule too while I’m there.” The pair was beginning to get excited, their blood thrumming through them.  

“What can I do?” Dusty was bouncing up and down like a five year old on Christmas. 

“You, I need you to pick up some weapons and ammo, also we’re going to need explosives. The two guns and knife we have are _not_ going to get the job done. Now, how will we do this?” Guin glanced at Dusty, who had begun to stand, mug in hand, heading to the kitchen.  

As he pulled down another glass he chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, thinking on his options, “We can do this one of two ways. The first,” he walked over to the freshly brewed pot of coffee, pouring more into his cup, “is we go in stealthily, get the money and get out. Not too many casualties, just in and out without making too much of a fuss.” Dusty went to the fridge and pulled out a cream soda, Guin’s favorite, pouring it as he spoke. “The second, is the guns blazing method. Go in firing our guns, break windows, most likely cause the neighbors to call the police, and we’ll probably have some casualties on our hands if the police show up and we have a gun fight.”  

Guin mulled over her options as Dusty made the small trek from the kitchen to the couch, handing the tall glass of ice cold soda over. “I love the stealth idea because I feel like a badass when I’m sneaky. Also, I’d rather not get into it with the cops on our first heist.” Guin takes a long slurp of her soda, moaning at the bubbly taste and feel, an unspoken thank you to Dusty. Guin sets the cup on the small table in front of her and lies down, her head landing in Dusty’s lap, his hands soon combing through her dark hair. “However, I do like the guns blazing option. But I don’t want the heat on our ass, _and_ I don’t want anyone to die. So, stealth it is. However, either way there’s a chance that the police are going to catch wind of this, even when we disable the silent alarm.” Guin closed her eyes, she was getting tired.  

The wind rolled the leaves around outside, Dusty wondered when there’d be snow. “That means we need to do something to catch the cops attention, but somewhere else. Somewhere still in the county, big enough so it draws all of the police in the area, but far enough away it doesn’t interfere with our plans.” He rested his head on the back of the couch, fingers still lightly pulling through Guin’s hair. “What if we blow something up? I love explosions.” 

Guin liked that idea. “Yeah, that’s a great idea. We can set up some big bombs, away from people, but big nonetheless, and then just before we go in we’ll set them off. Wait, how far away from the bank are we talking?” Guin didn’t want anything to go wrong.  

“Well,” Dusty thought for a moment, how far away did they need it? And would the signal even reach that far? “Okay, so how about we rent a car, and we spilt up when we get to Snow Shoe? I’m good with making bombs, you remember the paint bomb I made in high school? It’s like that but less safe. I can do it.” Dusty pulls the laptop closer, looking at the map. “I’ll set off a few bombs around Clearfield in twenty minute intervals, it looks like Karthaus and Clearfield are in the same county, so it’ll draw all of the police in the area. We’ll meet up at Kylertown after you rob the place. You worry about how you’re going to rob the place, I’ll worry about the distraction.” 

Guin didn’t like the idea of splitting up, but she was confident in their ability to get this job done. Guin sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. “Alright, so you know what you’re doing. I want it to seem as if the alarm going off was just an accident, because I don’t think any amount of wire expertise is going to _not_ set that alarm off.” The pair sat in silence while Guin worked up a plan in her mind. After a while Guin snapped her fingers and turned to look at Dusty, “I know! I drive up there on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and I’ll sneak in through the back door. Every time I go I’ll set off the alarm so the police will show up. That way they’ll think the alarm is faulty, so on Thursday if the alarm goes off they’ll think hardly nothing of it. Plus, they’ll already be pre occupied with your explosions.” Guin stood and paced the room, her feet scuffing against the wood floor.  

“When I go in on the days before the heist I’ll check out the security system and on Wednesday night I’ll go in and shut it off, then I’ll cut the wires. On Thursday I’ll wait fifteen minutes after you set off the bomb for any stray officers that might be around. I really don’t want to be seen, so I’ll get into the vault by the ventilation or whatever if I can – If not, I’ll drop down just outside the vault, I guess.. I’ll need to get the blueprints for the building too.” Guin gets so wrapped up in her plans that she begins to say everything out loud instead of just the highlights. “Maybe I can get some knock out gas? No, that’s too flashy for this job. I guess I’ll kill the guard to get in, and I’ll knock out the tellers one by one.” Guin turned to Dusty, “I’ll need to have the rented car, but I need a van.” 

Dusty moved to sit on the coffee table in front of Guin. “We’ll need disguises right? Masks and stuff. Want to run to the store tomorrow?” Guin nodded and joined Dusty on the coffee table.  

“Let’s do this.”  

 


	5. Chapter 5

“Alright, women and men!” The Major Sergeant’s voice was unnerving. “You’ll be going on a very special mission tomorrow. There’s a man by the name of Cerberus, he’s an evil man with an evil name. Cerberus has been blowing up our camps left and right in the past month and has been a real pain in the ass. So, we think we’ve found his location. And now we’re gonna’ go and kill ‘im.” The Sergeant looked generally happy as he paced back and forth in front of his soldiers, which made Vince excited. “It’s the second of December, friends. If we bag this guy, it’ll be an early Christmas. As you leave there a papers by the door, they’ve got this man’s face on them. Study it, I don’t want any innocents dying.” Major Sergeant stopped in front of Vince and dropped his voice, “See me after this.” Sergeant stepped away and raised his voice again, a vein popping slightly out of his head, “Dismissed!”  

Vince stayed behind as the other soldiers filed out of the dining area. “You wanted ta see me, sir?” He was curious, he’d never been anything but obedient to his higher-ups, and he hadn’t gotten into a single fight since he’d met Travis. Vince quietly heaved a sigh, trapped in his own mind for a moment.  

 _Travis._ He was Vince’s first thought when he woke up, and last thought when he went to sleep. Vince couldn’t help but blame himself, if he’d been able to kill when he first got there, he could’ve killed whomever shot Travis before any of it even happened, and Travis wouldn’t be dead anymore. Vince had gone back to eating the normal slop that was served in the dining tent, he couldn’t face Emily after what had happened. He tried once to talk to her again, but as soon as she saw him she began to weep again. He couldn’t take seeing Emily in so much pain every time he went to talk to her. He’d become alone again. 

“Grand!”  

Vince was snapped out of his sad stupor, the Major Sergeant waving a hand in front of his face.  

“Are you even listening to me, Grand?” Sergeant looked irritated, but he also looked slightly concerned.  

“Sorry, sir. I was not payin’ attention.” Vince wished he could hang himself on the spot.  

“Alright, Jersey Boy – I said, you’re not in trouble. You’ve been doing a fine job the past year or so, so I’ve decided to give you a Christmas present.” Sergeant looked overly proud of himself, a warm smug across his face. Vince was curious.  

“Vincent Grand,” Major Sergeant turned and picked something off of the table behind him. “As Master Sergeant, I am granting you the title of Sargent. You have proven, ever since you got here, that you have some of the best leadership qualities in this entire encampment, and that you deserve this position. I know that some of your fellow soldiers might chap your ass because you skipped a few of the ranks, but I think that you deserve this.” He turned to face Vince again and came closer and placed a jacket, similar to the one Vince was already wearing. “This is your new uniform jacket. Wear it with pride.” After Vince didn’t move, the jacket resting in his hands, the Sergeant lighted. “Go ahead, Grand. Try it on.” The Sergeant stepped back as Vince began to change his uniform jacket, a new Sergeant’s insignia sewn on the front. Vince quickly placed his name plate on his new jacket. 

“You are now in charge of a platoon, or two squads, that have just come in. They’re newbie’s. You may name this platoon, and just as your Sergeant did, you will stick to them like glue. You will be their best friend, and you will be someone they look to for guidance. You are to know their names, and be their friend. However, you must not be lenient, or favorable to any one person. You are their friend, but do not forget that you are their Sergeant. You are in charge.” The Major Sergeant’s face became grave and he heaved a sigh. 

“Now that I’ve done that, I’ve got a job for you.” 

Vince attuned his ears, the Sergeant sounded very serious, deadly so.  

“The mission I’m sending the others that were in your squad on is not going to succeed. They have a picture of his face but he is not in the location we gave them. They will not find him.” The Sergeant turned to the table again and motioned for Vince to come closer. Upon looking at the table Vince saw a large map stretched across the width of the table. Sergeant pointed to a small village. “I’m sending you and two other Sergeant’s to a town four miles from the one I’m sending everyone else to.” He moved his finger just a little ways off of the village to land on another one. “The three of you will walk there, and in your bags, which you will wrap in a provided tarp and bury in the sand a mile from the town, will be clothes that match the area so that you blend in. Keep your guns underneath your clothing. When you kill him, do it with your silenced pistol, which each of you will be issued one before you leave. If anyone asks, you are traveling there from Germany to see the culture, so you’d better learn how to make your accent more guttural. The three of you will stay there until the job is done. It shouldn’t be hard, there are only ten buildings in the village, but there are also underground hatches, so check those places too.” The Sergeant turned to Vince, placing a hand on his shoulder.  

“Vincent, this job is very important. Do your best to end this man, and try not to kill any other people.” Vince nodded, he would try his very best. He would properly serve his country. 

“You’re dismissed.” 

Vince turned and walked out of the dining tent, two people approaching him, all three saluting. The one with dark brown, sunken in, tired eyes, which sadly reminded him of Guin, spoke first, lightly smiling. “Sergeant Grand. I’m Sergeant Theodore Tuck, one’a the Sergeant’s whom are accompanyin’ you to take out Cerberus.” And Theodore spoke in his deep and slow country drawl, the two shook hands. Theodore’s almost emotionless face and closed off behavior reminded him of when Guin shut her emotions off from the word back in middle school. 

The second Sergeant held clear, crystal blue eyes that shone in the sun smiled widely at him, extending his hand and shaking Vince’s jovially. “Hi, I’m Sergeant Geoff Hunt, the _other_ Sergeant that will be going with you. It’s nice to meet you!” Geoff reminded Vince of Dusty with his open emotions and smiling face. 

“Vincent Grand, nice ta’ meet you both.” Maybe Vince would learn to like these two as much as his two idiots back home. 


	6. Chapter 6

 

“Hey, Dusty, what d’yah think?” Guin turned, holding a beautiful, hound mask up to her face. The mask covered her cheeks and came down over her nose, the whole thing trimmed in gold. The forehead and folded ears were a cool navy with silver blue swirls on the head and white and gold adorned the inside of the ears. The rest of the face was red stretching from just above her eyes down to her cheekbones with golden swirls, but from the bridge of the nose down was white, the very tip of the hounds snout painted black.  The eye slots on the mask were silver plastic, so you could not see the wearer’s eyes but they could see you. It looked more suited for a masquerade ball than a robbery – Which was just Guin’s style.  

“It’s perfect, Guin. I can’t believe you made that!” Dusty was astonished at her craftsmanship.  

“I’ve got yours ready too.” She handed him a red, gold trimmed, white nosed, and black eared fox mask. The mask covered his cheeks and nose as Guin’s did, and the face held shimmering gold and silver swirls all over, the eyes the same blazing silver. Dusty slid the mask over his face and tied the strings behind his head.  

“How do I look?” Dusty twirled a few times, Guin giggling at his antics.  

“You look perfect, Dusty. Fit for tea with the Queen. If you were robbin’ her, of course.” The pair shared a laugh. “Alright,” Guin stood, placing her mask on the coffee table. “So, show me what you’ve got in weapons, my friend.”  

Dusty slid his mask off, placing it beside Guin’s. “You have no idea how hard it was to choose, so I just bought a few automatics, a few pistols, and a sniper rifle. I went to, like, four different places and three of those places didn't even ask for my ID. I had to dig into my savin’s account, but I’m sure it’ll be overflowin’ soon.” Dusty began bringing the guns out of his room to an excited Guin. As both guns, ammo, and other lethal weapons spread across the floor – Guin came up with an idea.  

“I think after this heist, or the next few heist’s, we’re going to need a bigger place, a house even.” Guin smiled as Dusty nodded, agreeing with her. “Where are we going to keep all of these weapons?” 

“We could put ‘em in the hall closet we use for towels? Maybe just the big guns, just in case I’d like each of us to keep a pistol in the dresser of our rooms. You know, if someone breaks in I don’t want ‘em to get any bright ideas.” Dusty was smiling innocently, but his tone of voice said otherwise.” Guin nodded, content to just go along with his plan.  

Dusty smiled as he rubbed his hands together, going back into his room and returning with an expensive looking wooden box. “These, I bought for you. I will only have one, so you get the rest. I know how much you love ‘em.”  

Guin’s shook the box lightly as it was handed to her. She smoothed her hands over the dark top before creaking it open. Guin’s jaw dropped as she stared at the contents inside. “Dusty, you shouldn’t have! These knives are beautiful. They’re really all mine?” Dusty nodded. “Dusty! That’s like, twenty-nine knifes!” Guin began to look at each individual knife, caressing them as if they were her blessed children. However, even though Guin thought it wrong to favor one child over the others but there was one knife that immediately stole her heart. It was the most beautiful of them all, and one out of the ten throwing knives to boot. A sleek steel blade with wave patterns sunken into it retracted into an intricately designed hilt with two beautifully marbled purple stones set in the form of a rounded hour glass. Guin smiled, her cheeks quickly growing tired from not using the action so much. 

“Each one is different by both blade and hilt.” Dusty felt so proud of himself, he loved making Guin smile, it was one of his favorite things to do.  

“Dusty I can’t believe you!” Guin delicately placed the box in front of her, then jumped up and tackled Dusty into the couch. “You’re my best friend and I love you.” 

“I love you too, Guin.” 

Guin went back to the box of thirty knives and found the most beautiful, then handing it over to Dusty, a soft look in her dark brown eyes. 

“Guin, but – That one’s the most beautiful. It looked as if it was your favorite?” Dusty lightly took the knife from Guin’s small hands, the coldness of the blade shocking him for a moment. 

“That’s why it should belong to you.” 

  

By the end of that Friday night they had moved all of the weapons and their matching ammo into the hall closet. 

\------------------------------------------------------------

 

When Dusty got home from class the next night, it was to dinner in the oven, and a note stuck to a warm pot of coffee. Dusty squinted at the note, reading it aloud. 

“Dear Dusty,  

I left the apartment at 5:00, which is when the bank closes, so when I get there everyone will be long gone. Dinner is in the oven, I’ll be home around nine or ten. Don’t wait up. If you need to call me, feel free. No one will hear me anyway. 

Love, Guin” 

Dusty laughed, pulling out his phone and dialing her number as he pulled a Philly Cheesesteak out of the oven and poured himself a cup of coffee.  

 

\------------------------------------------------------------ 

 

It was 6:58 P.M., Guin had pulled her car into a driveway across the street from her destination. The bank had been closed for about two hours, no one was around, but she had to make sure. She was going to wait until the clock hit exactly 7:00 P.M. to go in. Guin jumped as her phone rang, she quickly set it to silent and answered in a calm voice. “Hey, Dusty. How were your classes?” 

Dusty sounded tired, “They were good. Thanks for the dinner and coffee, it made my day ten times better.” 

“No probs, D.” Guin began to get out of the car, the phone shoved in her back pocket as she turned on her Bluetooth earpiece, slipping her mask over her face. 

“So,” Dusty sounded curious, which made Guin giddy as she walked around the building, “how’s the breakin’ and enterin’?” 

“It’s just getting’ started,” Guin pushed the large dumpster underneath of a vent opening, “Thanks to those floor plans you got a hold of, I am now about to start climbin’ in though the ventilation and going to the security room.” Guin climbed up and pulled out a screw driver, unscrewing the nails of the air vent grate.  

“That sounds so exciting.” Dusty sounded a little sad. 

“I told you that you could come if you wanted, but _no_ , you wanted the extra hour with your World Reg. Professor so you could get a better grade. I bet you were suckin’ his dick for that A.” Guin smiled to herself as she climbed in and began crawling towards her desired destination. 

“And what if I did? You know I’d do anythin’ for a better grade.” Guin could hear as Dusty took a bite out of his sandwich. 

“It wouldn’t matter to me if you did or not, and yes I know that you’ll do anythin’ for an A.” Guin listened to his chewing for a few more moments before she couldn’t stand it anymore. “Dusty!” 

Dusty stilled in his chewing, “What?” Guin could practically hear the look of confusion on his face, not knowing what he did to get yelled at.  

“Can you please stop chewin’ into the phone? It’s gratin’ my nerves.” Dusty gave an apathetic apology and put the phone on speaker, far enough away from his mouth so Guin couldn’t hear him eating. Guin made an ‘Ah hah!’ as she found what she had been looking for, peering through the grate’s thin slats. “I found the security room,” She began unscrewing nails again, “I can see about two monitors, they’re flickin’ through a bunch of camera angles. Hold on, I’ve gotta’ drop down.” Guin picked up the grate, moving it out of her way, then taking hold of the edge of the opening, and dropping down feet first, landing in a crouched position. She walked over to the desk that held the monitors, sitting down in the less than comfortable wheelie chair and flicking through the camera angles 

“Looks like there’s about sixteen cameras around this place. There’s one out front, my car is nowhere in view, so that’s good..” She paused for a moment, “Here’s what I’ll do. I’ll put the video from the past ten minutes on loop and set up the computers to shut down in sixteen minutes. Then go get pictures of the schedule. As I leave I’ll set off the silent alarm, and turn the computers off so it looks like every security thing had a malfunction. I need you to keep track of what time I set the alarm off so I can to the same thing tomorrow.” Guin looped it and set off farther into the building.  

“Hey, Guin, sorry to bother yah’, but what’s for dinner tomorrow?” Dusty sounded like he was laughing into his hand. 

“Oh my God, I don’t know? I’ll figure it out when I get back home.” Guin felt at ease in the empty building, the darkness feeling like a warm blanket against her skin. She took note of the four teller windows and knew this was going to be a good first haul. Maybe those gas bombs would be a good idea. She could drop one into the vents and everyone would be out in minutes. “Hey, Dusty? Can you make a gas bomb to knock someone out?” 

“Oh, yeah. I’ve just got to pick up a few ingredients. No problem. Why? Did you change your mind and decide to knock everyone out anyway?” 

Guin pulled out her phone once she reached one of the offices, soon flipping through papers to find the schedules. The less people there the better. “Yeah, Ah! I found the schedule. Looks like there’s always a guard, and apparently he just chills in the vault all day. Shit! There’s no vent that the gas can get through either.” 

“What’re you going to do Guin?” 

“I don’t know. I’ll figure it out. Aight, what time is it?” 

“7:30.” 

“Alright, I’ll set off the alarm and I’ll be home shortly.” 

“Be safe, Guin.” 

“I will.” 

\--- 

“This pizza tastes like Jesus.” Guin fell in love. 

“Guin, you make the weirdest comparisons.”  

Dusty and Guin were sitting in their Pre-Heist pizza place in Snow Shoe, both pumping their legs up and down from the jitters. "Hey – Just so you know, if you die out there I will literally kill you." Guin was smiling, but her eyes held a serious glare. The mood had changed into something less playful and more serious. Guin regretted opening her mouth. "I know the possibility of dying is very low, but don't take any unnecessary risks please. I don't know what I'd do without you." 

“Guin I’m your best friend, and you’re mine. I wouldn’t be here, in college or anything if it weren’t for you. I tell you everything and I know that you won’t tell a soul. I trust you with my life, Guin.” 

Guin was silent, listening carefully. 

“Guin, I know I snuggle with you and - and tell you I love you, but the truth is-“ 

“I know Dusty.” Guin reached across the table and placed her hand on his. “I’ve known for a while. If I hadn’t have known, I wouldn’t have snuggled with you if we weren’t dating. Besides, I’ve seen you check out the waiter’s ass at least four times while we were sittin’ here. I know you like dudes, and there is _absolutely nothing_ wrong with that. I love you for you, no matter what.”  

Dusty began to tear up, “Oh my God Guin, you cannot believe how relieved you just made me. I’ve been holding that back for years, I thought that you were going to hate me, or think I was disgustin’. I’m so happy you proved me wrong.” Guin laughed as she wiped his tears as they appeared on his face. 

“I would never. Now buck up, Dusty. We’ve got some heisting to do. That and I can’t stand this mushy emotion stuff.” Guin took a bite out of her pizza, “Hey, do you think we need code names?”  

Dusty thought for a moment, and nodded enthusiastically, “Let’s do each other names, just so we can fuck wit’ each other.” Dusty finished off two more slices of pizza before he spoke again, “How about Fox and Hound?”  

Guin’s eyes shined at the two names. 

“Get it? Because we’re partners, our mask are a fox and a hound, and we fuck shit up like they do!” Dusty’s smile brightened the entire room. 

“I don't think you've actually seen the movie but alright, Fox, let's do this.” 

 The pair finished their Pre-Heist meal and headed off in separate directions, faces covered and only connected by an earpiece.  

 

“Fox, are you ready yet? Fuck waiting fifteen more minutes.” Guin smiled at the code name, but she was getting antsy sitting in her car behind the bank, listening carefully as Dusty’s voice crackled through the earpiece. 

“Just about, I’m about to detonate the last bomb now. Hound, these explosions are just _so_ beautiful, I wish you were here to see them. I’ve got a great view from the town hall roof. I’m hidden on top of this large clock tower, and everythin’ just looks so amazin’. Okay, here it comes!” Dusty detonates the last bomb and he can see the explosion from where he’s sitting. It’s magnificent, the oranges and yellows touching the bright blues of the sky. He only has a moment to enjoy it before he begins to climb down from his perch. 

As he gets in his car, he scratches his nose lightly, the sweat underneath the mask making his fingertips slippery on the wheel of his car, and as his tires slightly squeal as he hits the gas it strangely reminds him of the hard work he put into his beautiful explosions again before he begins to head toward Kylertown, a few last words reaching Guin’s ears, “See you on the flipside, babe.” 

 

Guin gets out of her car when she hears Dusty start the engine of his car, dragging multiple money bags behind her. She knows she should probably wait longer, but she can’t. She can practically feel the money at her fingertips, and that makes her sneakily skip up to the back of the building. As she quietly jumps in the shaft and crawls along, she quickly prays to God to forgive her for her sins and to please let this heist be clean. She opens the grate to the security room and drops down onto the guard, knocking him out. She stands and shuts down all of the security cameras and heads to the door. She cracks it open just enough to roll in the gas bomb, the round object immediately letting out a thick white smoke. Somehow, ‘ _People must be idiots in this town’_ Guin thinks, no one noticed until one of the tellers turned and ran into the large cloud of smoke, but by then everyone in the room had already begun to drop. Guin watched as one of them hit the silent alarm, but it was too late, Guin had already gone in the night before, right after the cops had left from her tripping it, and cut all of the wires – So even if the signal did get out, the cops were already preoccupied with big explosions some miles away. 

As Guin opened the door wider and crept through the room she thanked the heavens for her mask being able to fit over a gas mask. The smoke was thick and reached all the way to the vault door. She dropped the bags and readied her pistol, slowly pulling on the vault door after realizing it didn’t have any sort of lock on it. 

‘ _Wow, these people really_ are _dumb_.’ 

She thought in the back of her mind she must’ve looked badass while walking into the vault, the smoke lightly billowing in with her. She stood there for a moment as the large guard took a look at her. As soon as he reached for his gun Guin lifted hers and pointed.  

“Put the gun on the floor and I won’t kill you where you stand. In about fifty seconds the knockout gas will get to you and you’ll be out like a light, so I guess until then you better be more obedient than a slave.” The man slowly place his gun on the floor, but Guin could tell this guy was going to do something to piss her off, in the end he would be dead. 

“Now, sir.” The guard was going to try and talk her down, _great._ Guin wanted to laugh, apparently the mask made her sound like a dude, but the less he knew about her the better. “You might want to rethink this. I’m sure the tellers out there have already hit the silent alarm and the police are on their way. If you just put the gun down and walk away, I can say that none of this happened, something just went wrong with the AC and everyone passed out.” 

“Oh, I don’t think we need to worry about the police. They’re a little – _Preoccupied_ , shall we say. And as for leavin’,” Guin clicked her tongue, and shook a finger at him slowly, “I came here with one purpose, to rob this bank blind, and that’s what I intend to do.” 

Some sort of emotion flickered over the guards face, he quickly reached for his gun, but Guin was faster, shooting him twice in the chest. Guin felt smug as turned back to the main room, grabbing the moneybags, but she was too cocky. When she entered the room again the guard shot her twice in her left forearm, and once in her left hip. Without thinking she raised her gun and shot him in the face.  

“Fuck! Motherfucker that hurts!” Guin took a steadying breath and began to fill the bags with money from the vault, when she was done almost of the knockout gas had cleared, so she entered the main room and began emptying the cash registers. 

Once the van was loaded with the money she went back in and took the dead smoke bomb with her but before she exited she quickly rummaged around in a desk and found sticky notes, pulling one off and writing a note with her left hand then rushing to the vault and sticking it on the guard's forehead. She slowly limped back to the van and started it up. Once she was a few miles away from the bank she pulled over to change her clothes and rip off her mask, reveling in the cool air against her sweaty face. She then started taking a look at her bullet wounds. They hurt like hell when she lazily bandaged them, using torn pieces from her black heist shirt. Slipping on the grey hoodie she brought with her she slipped back into the driver’s seat. She needed to get those bullets out of her as soon as possible, she was already beginning to feel woozy. 

 

When she arrived at the Roadhouse she was dizzier then before, but could still walk. Sort of. She immediately spotted Dusty at a table, who had apparently already knocked back a few mugs of coffee.  

“Nervous, were we?” Dusty looked up smiling at the sound of her voice as she plopped down into the booth, but once he got a look at her his wide smile faded.  

“Oh my God, Guin. Are you alright?” Dusty looked so scared. 

“I’m fine, really. I’ve got a few extra holes, but I should be fine. After we eat we’ll need a doctor.” Guin shifted in her seat, grunting. "It's fine, it's only hurts whenever I do anything. I need you to call Kerry. He’s majoring in the medical field, right? Ask him if he’d like some real world experience, but no questions asked.” Dusty nodded, pulling out his phone as dialing up Kerry, a friend they’d met in the second week of college. 

The waiter walked up to the table, his smile faded when he saw Guin. “Ma’am, are you okay?” 

Guin smiled, then looking down to read his name plate, “Ah, Eric, yeah, that’s your name. I’m alright, my blood sugar is just _really_ low. I’m hyperglycemic and it shouldn’t be this low. Get me something sugary as quick as you can, please.” The waiter rushed off, soon coming back with a bowl full of ice cream.  

“I couldn’t think of anything more sugary. Is there anything else I can get you?” The waiter seemed genuinely concerned, which made Guin feel as if there might actually be hope in the world. 

“Yes, please get me a root beer and a burger, everything on it. Oh, and two sunny side up eggs. To go.” Guin nodded when she was finished and the waiter was off again. As she slowly shoveled ice cream into her mouth, she listened in on Dusty's conversation with Kerry.  

“Yes, I know it’s confusing, but we’ll pay you for no questions asked, just hurry up and get over to our apartment, we’ll be there in an hour. Bring tweezers. Kerry, please trust me, I – Guin and I – really need your help, please. Just – Just be there, okay? Thank you. Oh! Don't forget something to kill the pain!” Dusty hung up with a sigh, looking over to Guin. “Do you think you’re going to make it?” 

Guin shook her head, “We need to leave right now, and I’m not going to make it if we don’t.” Guin pulled a wad of cash out of her pocket and placed it on the table, leaving behind a note on a napkin that wrote out,  

‘I don’t know how much this is, but I needed to leave ASAP because of my blood sugar. You were a wonderful server, and whatever is left is your tip.’ 

Let’s just say that server went home with a heavy pocket. 

 

“Dusty, what’s wrong with Guin?” Kerry approached them, in an ugly Christmas sweater no less, as Dusty helped Guin out of the car, holding her bridal style as he head lolled back, then handing her of to Kerry so he could open the door.  

“So much for no questions asked, but I figure you’ll find out when you see - She was shot. It was a miracle that she drove here. Where do you want her?”  

“On the couch, get some towels to lay her down on.” Dusty thought Kerry sounded so calm in the hectic situation, that’s probably what makes him a great medical student – And one day a doctor. 

Dusty ran to the closet, coming back with towels, spreading them out on the couch, Kerry carefully laying Guin down and taking her hoodie off. As he pulled off the makeshift bandages he silently hissed to himself, it looked very painful.  

“Dusty! Get me some rubbing alcohol, floss, and cotton swabs, now!” Kerry snapped his fingers. While he was waiting for dusty to come back with the supplies, he pulled two Oxycodone pills out of his pocket, then getting a glass of water and forcing them down Guin’s throat, making sure she didn't choke. They were pills from a surgery he had a month or so back that he never used.   

Guin was in a dazed stupor, she didn’t know what going on, all she felt was numb. It took her everything to focus on driving back to the apartment, she almost crashed twice. However, she immediately felt when Kerry dug the tweezers in to her arm, trying to fish the bullets out. She screamed so loud and tried to raise up off of the couch that Dusty had to shove a rag in her mouth and hold her down. 

“I hate seein’ her like this.” Dusty began to cry. Guin was looking him right in the eyes, she looked like she was in so much pain, he hadn’t seen this much emotion on her face since Freshman year of high school, just before she blocked off all of her emotions to the world. 

Kerry was quick about getting the bullets out and sewing her back up. However, even though she took two doses of the Oxycodone, she was still whimpering quietlywhen they removed the rag from her mouth. Kerry decided he’d stay until the next morning, just in case anything happened, but he was curious so he pulled Dusty to the side. “Dusty, I know I agreed to no questions asked, but you’ve gotta’ tell me what you guys did to get her shot like that.” 

Dusty thought for a moment. Could he trust Kerry not to go running to the police?  

“Ah, fuck that rule – We’ll probably need you again in the future anyway. I’ll tell you, but you cannot tell anyone or else. Can you always be our go-to doctor for these things? Because if you can’t I’m not goin’ to tell you.” Dusty was dead serious, he liked Kerry, they’d been friends for a year, but he’d kill ‘im if it meant keeping himself and Guin safe. 

“Yes, I’ll come when you call. But! I want to be paid. No offense, but being a doctor isn’t free. Now tell me what happened.” Kerry crossed his arms, he meant business. 

“We robbed a bank, and someone shot her. He must be dead now, can't leave witnesses and all but that’s all I know.” Dusty trusted Kerry, but he was still nervous that he might flip and tell the cops.  

“I’m trying not to freak out, but okay. Where’s the money?” Kerry shook his head, he couldn’t believe he’d gotten himself into this mess, but he couldn’t get out of it now. Besides, these were his friends, and friends don’t leave friends to deal with things by themselves. 

“Uh, it’s in the van. Why?” Dusty was legitimately confused, but told Kerry anyway. 

“Because I’m going to help you bring it in, dumbass. Also, bring the bleach just in case she got blood on anything.” Kerry walked out of the door, pulling the sleeves to his ugly Christmas sweater back down and opened the back of the van. He quietly inspected the little splats of blood in different places, then got to work bringing the bags in as Dusty found bleach. When he came back inside Dusty was just standing in the foyer, bleach in hand. “Give that there, go bring the rest of the bags in, there’s only three. I’ll get rid of the blood she got in the back and on the driver’s seat."  

Once the cleaning was done Kerry came back inside to find Dusty and Guin, whom was swaying a bit, sitting up and counting the money in the bags.  

“Don’t worry,” Guin looked up as he entered. Kerry noticed Guin was back to her unemotional state, with what looked like a joint between her teeth and a plate of pizza rolls in front of her. “I’m fine right now. I’m eatin’, I’m getting’ high, and I’m countin’ money I just _stole._ Other than the holes in my arm and my hip, I’m feelin’ pretty good. Come on,” Guin patted to the couch cushion beside her, then reached for another joint that was casually sitting on the table and holding it out to him. “Pop a squat and count some money. We’ll split it evenly with you.” 

Kerry didn’t know what to do with the pair. He shook his head, grabbing what was held out him and sat down beside Guin, counting the money they’d scored. "Light me up will you?" 

Guin leaned in close, and used her favorite lighter to light Kerry's own bud. However, before he could bring it to his mouth she reached a hand behind his head and brought his lips to hers. Kerry's heart skipped a beat. Guin smirked lightly as Kerry blushed furiously, fumbling with holding his smoke in a beginning to cough roughly. "I just forgot to thank you for saving my life." 

Kerry smiled as he leaned back into the couch, pulling a quote from his brain he'd heard in a movie the other day, "One day there will be too many, my love." 

Guin, having seen the same movie when it came out, replied accordingly. "But not today."


	7. Chapter 7

“This officially sucks ass!” Theodore’s mood had gone sour. They were almost to the village, they’d changed into the long robes which were accustomed to the culture and buried their packs about thirty minutes back and they’d already been walking for hours, now all Theo could do was complain. This didn’t remind Vince of Guin at all. “What? They couldn't've even given us camels? This fuckin’ sucks.”  

Not that the twang in Theo’s voice wasn’t appealing, but in that moment, Vince was _real_ tired of it. “Hey, can yah’ please shut up?” Vince was trying to be nice. The three Sergeant’s had gotten to know each other in the week before their mission, and Vince was comfortable enough to tell Theo to shut up and know he wouldn’t offend him. “For real, we’re all in this shitty ass weather, these hot as hell robes, and we’ve all been walking for hours. Geoff and I haven’t complained once, and since we’re all experiencing the same thing the least you can do is act like us, and shut the hell up!” Vince was very irritable at this point, he was sweaty, thirsty, and just wanted to sit down. 

Theo hung his head in shame, “I’m sorry, me complainin’s only makin’ it worse. I’ll keep quiet.” 

“No, no. It’s okay, it’s not your fault, we’re all irritable right now and we each handle it in our own ways. I didn’t mean to lash out at you.” Vince felt like a horrible person now, he wished he could just go and crawl under rock somewhere. Maybe it’d be cooler. 

“Alright guys, quit being so emotional. You’re really making me want a hug right now.” Geoff looked back at the two, he was at the front of the pack, trudging on like the good soldier her was. Vince was about to make a sarcastic remark when Geoff suddenly called back, “Oh God! There it is! The village, it’s just over there!” Geoff’s words made the trio excited, and they all sprinted for the small village, almost tripping over their robes a few times. 

When they finally reached the village they were greeted by four beautiful women carrying large jugs in their arms. Vince came up and asked slowly, putting his accent on. “Are those water jugs?” The women looked very confused. 

“Why are you talking so slow?” Vince almost cried. They spoke English! However, they had strange accents.  

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know if you spoke English or not. May we have some water? We have walked all the way from a village four miles from here.” Vince smiled widely.  

“Follow us, the well is just over here and you may drink as much as you like. By the way, I am Mildred, and the other girls are Esther, Genevieve, and Janet.” She gestured to each woman as she said their name, then each walking in the same direction, the boys eagerly following, dropping to their knees at the well and gulping up long drinks of water. “Tell me,” Mildred kneeled beside Vince. “Why are you three here?” 

Vince paused from his vigorous gulping to answer her question, “We’re visiting so we can study the culture here we’ll be here until tomorrow morning. How about yourself?” 

“We came to live here in order to study the culture as well. We’ll be here for two more years before moving on to a small village in Northern Russia.” Vince noticed Mildred had the prettiest caramel gold eyes. “Please, when you’ve had your fill let each of us show you to all of the village peoples, they love visitors.” Vince nodded, maybe they’d get this mission done faster that they’d thought. 

“Each of us will lead one of you around. Come.” Mildred took Vince by the hand leading him into every home. The first one was one of the largest in the village, woven tapestries hung on all the walls, inside and out. “This is my home, I live here by myself. I get lonely, but I have the whole village to talk to.” She took Vince back out into the blistering sun, he honestly would rather have stayed in the relatively cool shade the house had given him.  

The next house was smaller, but the shade just as much appreciated. “This is Janet and Esther’s home, they’re sisters and the village said that family lives together, even when they’re wed.” 

As they went through each house Vince got to meet all of the kind village people and learn their stories, one of them even had a terminal dieses, but had said they were just happy to be alive and to serve their God. It made Vince’s heart warm, but once the sun began to touch the horizon, he remembered why he was there: To kill Cerberus.  

Vince met back up with his two Sergeants and told them that since he wasn’t above ground, he had to be under, and there was only one underground place in the entire village. “Boys, I’ll take care of this, go and be merry for tonight. Drink eat, listen to the villagers stories around the fire tonight, have _mind blowing_ sex with the foreign chicks here, if they’ll allow. But first thing tomorrow we head back for camp.” Vince clasped both of their shoulders under his hands, smiling widely. Once they were gone Vince looked back up at the sky, stars like he’d never seen before twinkling brightly. He took a moment longer to bask in the worlds wonders, before setting off to the latch he’d seen leading into the ground earlier. 

As Vince slowly lifted the latch and climbed down into the hole, the air went from the dry hot weather he was almost used to by now, to a cool wet climate. After shutting the hatch he turned, seeing a long hallway turning to the left at the end. Vince quietly made his way down the hallway, getting his gun ready, he was not going to let Cerberus get out of this alive.  

As he turned at the end of the hallway, he saw a room, and a man sitting at a candle lit desk. It was Cerberus, and even though all Vince could see was the back of his head, the aura around him felt evil. Cerberus must’ve heard him enter because he started talking, but he must’ve just thought it was one of his family members. Vince should’ve shot him then and there, he really should’ve. But he wanted to see Cerberus’ face when he turned and realized he’d been found and was about to die.  

“Ah, has my dinner arrived? Just set it on the bed and leave, I’ll eat it when I’m done writing this letter.” The only noise in the room was the scribbling of pencil on papyrus. Cerberus seemed to notice that whomever it was, was still standing there, and he got impatient. 

“I thought I told you to leave!” He stood a whipped around, then stopping in his tracks when he came face to face with the barrel of Vince’s gun. Vince couldn’t help but to throw a line right back at him. 

“And I thought the US told you to stop blowing our shit up, you prick.” Vince was going to shoot, but then Cerberus pulled out a gun, almost literally out of his ass, and shot Vince three times in the thigh. Vince didn’t flinch, he’d been trained against pain. He smiled at Cerberus’ shocked face and spoke one last line, “Shocked? Well unlike the scum you are, America breeds Super Soldiers.” Then he watched as Cerberus’ brains get splattered all over the back of the wall. 

Vince quickly turned when he heard a gasp from behind him. It was Mildred, his guide from earlier. Vince was legitimately scared she was going to scream and then they’d all get killed, but what came out of her mouth was the last thing Vince thought she’d say.  

“You killed him? Oh my God, you killed him. Thank you so much.” She stepped closer and embraced Vince, who was confused about the entire situation. “He kept trying to make advances on me, inappropriately touching me and saying things that would make even the toughest soldier blush. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you!” Vince didn’t know what to say. 

“Here,” Mildred pushed him onto the bed, pushing up his robes, “Let me dress your wound.” She tore part of Cerberus’ robes and gently wrapped his thigh. “Come, you may stay the night in my home.” 

Once they reached her home and the door was closed she poured him a drink of what she said was the strongest ale in the land. He had to agree, one glass in and he was already feeling tipsy and enough of his judgement was out the window that when she began to kiss and undress him, he put up no fight. 

 

When morning came it was Theo and Geoff who had to drag Vince out of bed so they could make their way back to the other village. 

“So,” Theo opened the conversation, bumping Vince in the arm, “who else had some _fun_ last night, eh? I tell you, Esther was wonderful, a sexy moaner too.” 

Vince looked at Theo as he spoke, snorting at Theo’s gaunt face which made his statement even funnier. “I have to say, Mildred was so soft, but it didn’t help that the entire time I was thinking of someone else.”  Both men looked over as Geoff began to laugh so hard he had to stop in his tracks and take a moment to collect himself before he could continue.  

“Vince, the hard ass Sergeant that has no trouble killing when he pleases, is stuck on some girl?” Geoff nudged Vince with his elbow, almost tripping over himself from the effort of trying to make it noticeable, through the robes that practically swallowed him, to Theo who was on Vince’s other side. “So, who is she? What’d she do? Humiliate you at prom? Stand you up for a date? Ooh! Ooh! You met her at church camp and fell in love over the summer, only to never see her again when the summer ended!” 

“Oh – Uh – No. None of that happened.” Vince looked down at the sandals on his feet, his toes tinted pink from the sun, the sand irritating as it slipped between all parts of the shoe and his foot. “It’s no one, I shouldn’t have mentioned it, and I was only feeling sorry for myself anyway.” Vince was mad at himself for saying anything, he looked up at the cloudless sky and wished with all of his heart that it would down pour, he wished he had bad weather that would fit his bad mood.  

Theo grabbed Vince’s hand, making Vince turn back to face him with the force of the halt. “Hey, Vince, I’d like to think we’re all really good friends here. You can tell us. We’ve had our share of lost loves, and things that have left us broken and wanting. You can trust us. Even if we sound like a bunch of teenage girls.” Theo grinned lightly. In the time Vince had gotten to know them, Theo, he noticed, was always the reassuring one. The one that, even if he didn’t show it too much, cared _so_ much for what friends he had, and once he got attached, he held on with a death grip. 

“Yeah, Vince.” Now Geoff had started in on the heart to heart to – well, heart – and he looked more invested and serious than Vince had ever seen him. “Here, I’ll tell you one of mine. Before I got here, I met this _wonderful_ person. They were-” Theo took a moment to close his eyes, remembering the way their smile vividly sparkled in the spring rain. The trio started to walk again, “Perfect. When they walked into the room everyone turned their heads. They always had the prettiest smile, the funniest stories, and they were friends with everyone.” Geoff’s eyes went dark, the look of wonder completely gone. “Then I lost them. They were going to a family reunion, it was only two hours away by flight, so I sent them off thinking I was going to see them a week later.” He rubbed a hand over his eyes. “The plane crashed on the way back.” 

Vince thought it was only fair to tell his story now. He took a few minutes to gather how exactly he was going to go about it, in a way that didn’t make Guin sound like a total asshole, because Vince thought she was being one, even if he did still love her. “Well, I’d known this girl almost my entire life – I grew up with her. She had the liveliest personality, and she smiled all of the time, but one day that changed, now she never smiles, that’s when it felt like she began to slip away. I eventually began to tell her emotions apart by how her eyes looked. The biggest thing that tore us was when I told her I wanted to join the Marines, she obviously didn’t like my decision, it seemed as if she just shut off all of her emotions and she walked off. I haven’t talked to her since.” Vince’s heart felt heavy, he missed Guin.  

Luckily the drab moment didn’t last very long as Geoff suddenly became elated. “Look! There’s are stuff hole!” The three picked up the pace and rushed toward their packs, changing quickly and then heading off again towards their destination.  

Theo spoke up soon after, slinging his arm around Vince’s shoulder, Geoff following suit. “Hey, I know it seems as if she hates your guts, but _I_ think that she’s just scared that she’s never going to see ya’ again. Love makes ya’ do crazy things, especially if ya’ think that you can save your emotions, your heart.” 

 Vince looked at his two comrades, smiling after a moment. “You, know, you guys are right. I can trust you guys.” Vince pulled his arms around their waists and pulled them closer. “You’re good friends. I never thought about it that way though – That she was just scared. She never was good with the more vulnerable emotions.” Vince smiled brightly, then started to sing ‘Every Little Thing Is Gonna’ Be Alright’ in a high pitched, off key tone, Theo and Geoff joining in. 


End file.
